Blood & Spirits (29 page)

I remember Jules holding me like that.

Garret puts Sunny down and opens his arms to me. I fall into him, crying on his shoulder. I’m glad that he can hold me. I need that and only that for as long as he can bear it.

I’m not sure how long I stay there in the safe warmth of his arms letting all my grief, guilt, and helplessness out on him. I only know he lets me.

When I finally lean back from him, our arms still draped on each other, to look into his face he has a warm smile for me and concern in his eyes. Where did this guy come from?

“How did you do that?” he asks softly.

“Do what?” I ask, trying again in vain, to wipe my face clean of makeup and tears.

“Bring me back across. How did you do it?”

“We’ll call it magic.” Unbelievably I manage a small laugh.

Garrett laughs too and pulls me outside with him. We sit down on the edge of the sidewalk just outside the building, and he puts his arm around me.

“At least we won.”

Garrett’s words are an attempt to console me, I know that. I stop to consider everything that happened, as I stare up at the stars and I can’t help coming to a different conclusion.

“We didn’t win.” I’m finally able to speak without my voice wavering.

“What?”

I look at him, but I have to look away.

“We saved Rachel, and stopped Paco’s ritual, that’s true. He got away though, even with all our effort, and he’ll try it again.”

“You sound so pessimistic. People are out there looking for him. He has nowhere left to hide and he’s lost almost everything. “

“I lost a lot myself.”

“You have Lucy, and Rachel. You have Frank, and Julie, and the girls who’ll be counting on you now, more than ever,” he says, and then moves his face in front of mine. “You have me.”

The fact that he’s right doesn’t make this small victory any less bitter.

We stand and look at Frank and Sunny waiting for us by the cars. He pulls me tight to him again, and asks, “Do you think you and Frank would want to stay with us until your house is repaired?”

“I think we could live with that.”

This embrace makes up for some of my losses. Paco’s death will make up for more.

‘You realize there is no backing out of our arrangement,’ the cool voice says in my mind as the cat nudges my leg slightly.

I let go of Garrett and take a step back before thinking back at it in my mind, ‘For love and revenge. I think it’s worth it.’

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